Justified Anger by Jennifer Colne; Sobering Account of the Effects of Molestation and Incest on a Family

 Justified Anger by Jennifer Colne; Sobering Account of the Effects of Molestation and Incest on a Family 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: It can be difficult for a family when one of their members is the victim of a crime. Sometimes the crime affects more than just the one who was hurt. It can affect everyone around them and fill them with feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, trauma, denial, and activism. Worse than that would be if the perpetrator was a family member as well. The actions and consequences can split a family apart as they take sides.

That is the situation faced by Jennifer Colne in her memoir, Justified Anger. This is a sobering, and unnerving book about the effects of child molestation and incest on her family.

Colne begins her book describing the troubles facing her daughters in 2001 when her eldest Katherine had been hospitalized for mental health problems and her younger daughter, Emma, lost custody of her children in a draining court battle with her abusive ex. This custody fight would lead to Emma being hospitalized as well after a suicide attempt and severe flashbacks. During one of these flashbacks Emma revealed that she was raped by her Uncle David. Later Katherine confessed that the same thing happened to her. David was arrested and charged with counts of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault. Unfortunately that's not the end of the story. Emma was convinced that she was blocking something from her mind. After a few years and a second marriage, Emma remembered what it was. She was not only raped and molested by her Uncle but by her father, Steve as well.

Colne’s intense descriptions of her daughters' abuse and the aftermath including their fractured mental states reach into the Reader’s souls and understand the pain that this family went through and in many ways are still going through. The abusers left their marks leaving their victims in fragile states unable to cope with many of the stresses in their lives. 

It wasn't just the initial crime of sexual assault that made David and Steve monsters. It was the continuous after effects that created a lifetime of trauma from two innocent girls who were hurt by men that they should have trusted to protect and love them. Katherine and Emma suffered physical, mental, and emotional scars that never fully healed as they got older. They were in tears, raged, and engaged in self harm and addictive behaviors. 

One of the most painful chapters occurs years later when Emma, surrounded by her mother, children, and husband, regresses to a childlike state. Her memories of her childhood were muddled with those of her children. She couldn't separate the past from the present, referred to people in her children's lives by names of people that she knew as a child, could not recall recent memories, or recognize her children in their photos. Skills that she was adept in like cooking became unknown to her. She regressed to a mental child in an adult body. Steve not only robbed his daughter of her childhood by molesting her. He and his brother in law robbed her of her adulthood by replacing a fulfilled life of a good career, happy marriage, secure home, loving children with one of terror, fractured mental states, impulsive dangerous behavior, and internal misery. 

David and especially Steve did more long term damage. They didn't just destroy Katherine and Emma. They broke apart their whole family. Even though the sisters were on the same side in accusing and charging David, they stood on opposite sides when it came to Steve. Colne supported Emma's account recalling earlier moments of sexual, verbal, and physical abuse that her former husband inflicted on her. That was more than Katherine did.

Katherine refused to accept that her own father raped her sister. She claimed that Emma was a liar and was trying to get attention. It is bizarre that a woman who had been sexually assaulted by one family member and developed emotional and psychological problems would not be more empathetic towards her sister who had been going through the same thing. Emma’s state clearly showed that she had been abused if not by their father then by somebody. But unlike her mother who recognized the signs and confirmed Emma's account, Katherine blatantly ignored them and defiantly venerated her father.

Katherine's denial might have been a means to protect herself psychologically and might have been understandable. But the volatile extremes that she went through to discredit Emma are less defensible. She not only purposely sided with her father but influenced other family members to do the same such as her and Emma's younger brother Colne's son, Liam and Emma's own estranged children. They cut not only Emma out of their lives but Colne as well removing themselves of a sister, niece, and mother but also a mother, aunt, and grandmother. 

We don't get any understanding of Katherine's transition from defender and fellow victim to antagonist because it is told by Colne and she clearly doesn't know either. There might be speculation from the Reader but nothing known or said. Instead, Katherine and the rest of Steve's defenders having so much vehement animosity towards his accusers can be seen as yet another crime that can be laid at Steve's feet.

Justified Anger is a realistic book about trauma. People don't always recover after one hospitalization or breakthrough. It sometimes takes many stays and they can exhibit the same behaviors for years and even decades afterwards. Sometimes perpetrators don't get the punishment that they deserve. Sometimes the story doesn't end with hugs and reconciliation. Sometimes it ends with making peace with oneself and that's how Colne ends her book. Her family is still broken. Emma may still have psychological problems. Katherine is still estranged from the rest of the family. But Colne and Emma have made peace with themselves and have strengthened their connections as mother and daughter.

For now, that's enough.

Secrets of Ash by Josh Green; Brotherly Bond Uplifts Story of Vet With PTSD

 

Secrets of Ash by Josh Green; Brotherly Bond Uplifts Story of Vet With PTSD

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Josh Green 's Secrets of Ash is a bleak somber look at veterans with PTSD and a brotherly love that gives the book an emotional uplift.

Chase Lumpkin, a vet from Afghanistan, has left his home in Atlanta to the rural town, Cherokee. He can no longer bear the PTSD, flashbacks about a disastrous friendly fire incident, and his own struggles with his family, so he plans to take his own life. Meanwhile, his equally troubled brother, Jack, is recruited to look for him while dealing with his own personal demons as well.

This is a very dark book that specializes in getting even darker. It is a definite character study in veteran PTSD. Chase is a very disturbed individual. His flashbacks are harrowing especially when he remembers the friendly fire incident. He displays plenty of rage, remorse, and intense grief that is felt through the pages.

When he moves to Cherokee, he obviously has one thing in his mind. The book goes through the various stages in the mindset of a suicide. Chase shows detachment for the outside world and self-isolation. He gives away possessions and puts his affairs in order. 

The most sinister aspect of Chase’s character is in the certainty of his decisions exemplified by his changing moods. One of the signs is that when a suicidal person is ready for their final act is that they act fine, even jubilant. Sometimes Chase acts that way. As depraved as that thought is, he believes that his problems will soon be over.

A bright spot in this book is the bond between brothers, Chase and Jack. This isn't a “good sibling/bad sibling” dichotomy. In fact, Jack is just as messed up as Chase in many ways. Even though he is fairly well known as a radio sports commentator, Jack can't find personal happiness. 

He is a recovering alcoholic who often relapses. He hops from bed to bed with various women as though to fill a void in his life. He has a daughter that he never sees and a dysfunctional relationship with his mother. In fact, the only thing that hasn't unraveled is his relationship with Chase.

When Jack goes to look for Chase and Chase tries to carry his plan forward, they are behaving like two lost souls searching for love and support. Their childhood gave them an “us against the world” mentality and without one another, they can't function properly. In many ways, Jack just isn't trying to save Chase. He's trying to save himself. 

New Book Alert: The Amber Crane by Malve Von Hassell; Historical Fiction Merges The Thirty Year War and WWII Through Time Travel

 New Book Alert: The Amber Crane by Malve Von Hassell; Historical Fiction Merges The Thirty Year War and WWII Through Time Travel

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Malve Von Hassell's The Amber Crane takes a hard unflinching look at two wars that shaped European History: The Thirty Years War which lasted from 1618-1648 and World War II. The plot involves a young man experiencing both wars through time travel. (Yes it's yet another time travel book that I am reviewing this year with another one coming soon.) The time travel aspects are intriguing but what is most memorable is the reality of showing the suffering that young people go through during a long extended time facing war.

In 1644, Peter Glienke, a 15 year old apprentice amber maker, lives near Stolpmunde, the Province of Pomerania with his widowed father and mute sister, Effie. His older brother, Lorenz, was killed in the war and his mother essentially died of grief. He feels constrained by the demands of his apprenticeship which gives him orders on what to make and when to leave his village (which with the latter the answer is never.) Peter is cynical and hardened by the war around him. 

Peter's only release seems to be creating works of art with the amber. He finds a few pieces of amber on the beach and keeps them for himself and in the process commits several infractions and breaks a few laws.

 However the amber that Peter collects has unusual abilities. When he holds them and falls asleep, he is transported 300 years into the future into 1944. There he meets Lioba, a young woman who is separated from her parents and is fleeing to safety with a gun in her hand ready to take on soldiers. 

 Peter transports between his present and future with the travel constantly draining him as he is caught between two worlds. He finds his family in the 17th century and his new friends in the 20th century and only he can help.

The Amber Crane is detailed in describing the life of someone in the 17th century, particularly guild members. The guild gives Peter training to use and make amber into various things. He makes several small figures like an amber heart and crane. His Master Nowak oversees his work and gives him assignments. As an apprentice, Peter is constrained by restrictions that are given by his Master Nowak and by the Mayor which also contribute to the ramifications to him finding and keeping amber. He is forbidden to travel or leave the village.The mayor orders civilians to stay away from the beach and the guild regulations require all amber turned in. By keeping the amber, Peter risks potential imprisonment, permanent banning from the guild, or banishment.

Nowak finally recommends Peter to ascend to the journeyman level which allows for more freedom to travel and work.  Peter is clearly glad for the extended freedom though guilt stricken about breaking regulations and worried about what it could mean for his family.

The other thing that The Amber Crane explores is the ramifications of how a long time war affects the people living during it. Peter has lived his entire life aware of this war. Even older generations have lived with it.

Neither Peter nor anyone else care who is in charge. Whether it's the Swedish or the Imperialists, the answer is always the same: more fighting. It's a common occurrence for supplies to be cut off and the people in Stolpmunde to go hungry. Random acts of violence are also frequent as when Effie is raped by a mysterious assailant.

In the 1940's, Peter recognizes the same issue with Lioba. She too sees no distinction between the Russian or German soldiers and will fight either if need be. War has desensitized both Peter and Lioba and they don't see an end to them. Some of the most heartbreaking moments concern the wars. Effie's rape has left her traumatized because she has already been unable to communicate with others except Lorenz. She completely shuts down and is unable to defend herself when she is accused of witchcraft.

In one chapter, Peter and Lioba enter the empty home of her uncle which is decorated the same as when he and his family left around Christmas. They enter a house with trees still up and decorations waiting for a joyous celebration which can never again be enjoyed by the people that once lived there.

In another uncanny resemblance between real life and art, it is heartbreaking to read about this fictional account of the Thirty Years War and World War II  and the real life happenings in Afghanistan. In the book and in life,  we have accounts of war that has lasted longer than most of the young population has been alive.  There are parallels between what Peter, Lioba, and the other characters in the book are going through and what many Afghan citizens and refugees are going through. It makes one wonder if, like Peter and Lioba, that they have experienced so much violence and death that it doesn't matter whether the soldiers are American, Afghan, or Taliban. They are soldiers who only bring death and destruction. 

The time travel aspects are slight. I was hoping for a stronger link between the two but perhaps the link is more thematic than plot worthy. Peter and Lioba are united by their cynicism and hatred for war. Their youth is over if it ever existed and now they despair about facing nothing but violence.

The Amber Crane could be a fantasy, but it's the reality of the lives in children during war that are most effective and memorable.

Weekly Reader: Profiler by M.A.R. Unger; Multiple Subplots Mar Otherwise Decent Murder Mystery About Criminal Profiling and Military PTSD

 

Weekly Reader: Profiler by M.A.R. Unger; Multiple Subplots Mar Otherwise Decent Murder Mystery About Criminal Profiling and Military PTSD

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: M.A.R. Unger's murder mystery novel, Profiler, would be a decent mystery dealing with criminal profiling and the consequences of PTSD in military veterans. It may make a decent series where Dr. Tom Jessup uses his gift for criminal profiling to uncover the serial killer du jour while investigating his own background. The problem is that Unger does too much in one book. Unger puts too many subplots into one book making it difficult for the reader to focus on the main  story.

One night, trouble occurs around Jessup's property. Police arrive to inform Jessup that there has been a murder around his place. Jessup had the TV on loud and didn't hear a thing. Neither did his closest current neighbor, Liz, a nosy woman who is house sitting for a wealthy artist. Jessup becomes concerned when he discovers that the murder occurred near the trailer of Beau Travers, an Iraqi War Vet and Jessup's friend and patient who suffers from PTSD. Relieved that the deceased was not Beau, Jessup offers his services out of concern for Beau's welfare. A quick investigation reveals that the deceased was also a vet named Reddi Mercado and a picture reveals that he and Beau served in the same regiment. Other people in the picture have or will be killed, so if Beau isn't the killer, then he will soon be killed.

Meanwhile a serial killer dubbed the Southwest Killer is picking out college students. Jessup analyzes this case with the help of his girlfriend, Denver police officer Baxter. 

It's not unusual for a mystery or psychological thriller to have a few subplots to go with the main action. After all, where would we be without the mystery solver's relationship woes, problems with their troubled teen, or the suspect/potential love interest? Sometimes the subplot involves one of the suspects to give the character more depth and make them a red herring and false lead. However, what makes Profiler so unfocused is that Unger gives two thriller subplots that have nothing to do with each other.

By themselves, the Marine Vet plot and the Southwest Killer plot are both interesting. The Marine plot is particularly compelling, particularly in the interactions between Beau and Jessup. There is a very effective moment where Beau is in the grips of a PTSD flashback and Jessup has to talk him out of harming others or himself. This chapter reveals the tight friendship between the two characters and how the horrors of war are not always left behind on the battlefield.

We also see the toll war takes on soldiers and civilians alike when some characters can't let go of the things that were done during war time.

The Southwest Killer plot also has some genuine moments of suspense such as when Jessup gives his analysis on the killer's motives and behaviors and is not only proven to be right but a potential victim is accidentally put right in the killer's path. One character also takes advantage of Jessup in the worst way possible, jeopardizing both of their careers and possibly lives.

 The problem is not that these two plots exist. It's that these two plots shouldn't exist in the same book. Alone they would make compelling narratives as separate books in the series. However, together they cause the book to be weighed down. We don't have enough time  to focus on one plot when the narrative moves to Jessup and colleagues discussing the events of the other plot. This happens several times in the book, making the writing hard to follow.

There is a point where the plots converge in a way that suggests that they are related. But they veer off in opposite directions that have nothing to do with each other. The overall effect is that the book would have done just as well or better without either the Marine plot or the Southwest Killer plot and the book would not have suffered much without them. 

Profiler could be an engaging series. Perhaps that is what Unger was hoping for. But a quick word of advice: Don't throw all the volumes in one book otherwise the Reader won't care to read the other books in he series.

New Book Alert: The Unseen Path by Zlaikha Y. Samad and L'mere Younossi; Sequel to The Unseen Blossom Reveals The Real World Surrounding The Fantasy

 

New Book Alert: The Unseen Path by Zlaikha Y. Samad and L'mere Younossi; Sequel to The Unseen Blossom Reveals The Real World Surrounding The Fantasy

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: In 2019, I had the pleasure of reading my favorite book of that year and one of my all-time favorites since this blog began, The Unseen Blossom by Zlaikha Y. Samad and L'mere Younossi. This stunningly beautiful and allegorical love story is set in Afghanistan and stars Zuli and Lamar. In a modern day fairy tale, the duo are given a task to search for a fig blossom. They travel through various dream like landscapes and are aided by magical guides before they reach the end of their quest and find love with each other. They are also given a much larger task of sharing the lessons that they learned about love and empathy with the world. I did not exaggerate when I described The Unseen Blossom as "walking into someone else's dream." 

Well, I now have the pleasure of reviewing The Unseen Path, the sequel, and it's a thorny pleasure. Not because it's a bad book. In fact, it's just the opposite. However, if The Unseen Blossom is a fantastic dream, then The Unseen Path is what happens after the dreamer wakes up and reality sets in. The Unseen Path shows us the real Afghanistan in which Zuli and Lamar live. It is a world in which it is difficult to share such a fantastic journey among intense poverty and strict laws, a romance between lovers of different social classes, and ideas of empathy and love that are hard to share in a country that is torn apart by war.

The book begins where The Unseen Blossom ends. Zuli and Lamar have returned from their journey.There is a strong tonal shift in the book that is both jarring, but at the same time realistic in how quickly the world can change for people. The first half of the book somewhat retains the fantastic elements of the previous book, though bordering more on romantic comedy rather than fantasy. There are Zuli's regal but distant parents who are bound by tradition. There is Zuli's loyal maternal nanny, Gulnar. There are some seriocomic moments that illustrate the class differences between the pair.

 It seems that Samad and Younossi are invoking a Jane Austen-esque comedy of manners involving star crossed lovers. 

Then reality crashes in and the Reader is aware that this book is set Afghanistan in 1979.

The Soviet-Afghan War is foreshadowed in the first half of the book by rumors of war. Zuli's father, the king, fears that Russia may invade. But like a murderer in a movie that is first introduced as an extra where the audience's focus is on the lovers in the foreground, these rumors are mere whispers or dark clouds on the horizon. Only in hindsight, after a second reading, do those dark clouds become important.

Once war hits, it does so in a way that catapults Zuli, Lamar, and the Reader headlong into reality. There is so much grief and anguish, partly because it is so unexpected. The destroyed buildings which only chapters before held such friendly people are reduced to rubble. People like Zuli and Lamar make every day plans to get together, go to work, share a drink, or just hang out only to be cruelly ripped apart possibly never to see each other again. 

It would be tempting to make Zuli and Lamar soldiers, warriors, and hell bent on revenge against the people who destroyed their country (and really who could blame them?). But that path would contradict the lessons that they learned in The Unseen Blossom. They use their talents, abilities, and personalities to aid the people around them. To provide healing, education, empathy, and love through their actions. They are learning to put into practical use the lessons that they have been taught. Those lessons take them through the immense grief and suffering that surround them.

Is The Unseen Path a better book than The Unseen Blossom? Well, they are so different that it's almost like comparing two completely different entities. Even though they are written by the same authors, featuring the same deuteragonist characters, and carry similar themes. The Unseen Blossom is a one of a kind spiritual fantasy into a dream world. The Unseen Path shows one how to put the love, magic, and kindness that is shown in the dream world into the real one. It shows how one can turn that fantasy into reality and plant the blossom that grows a better world.

New Book Alert: Shove by Sarah Ciacia; Suspenseful Emotional YA Novel About The Traumatic After Effects of The Accidental Death of a Child

New Book Alert: Shove by Sarah Ciacia; Suspenseful Emotional YA Novel About The Traumatic After Effects of The Accidental Death of a Child

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews



Spoilers: When someone dies after an illness, it's sad but at least it's expected. Plans can be made, possessions can be transferred, and there is a serene sense that at least the person is no longer sick or in pain. When a person dies unexpectedly, it throws everything off kilter and when the deceased is a young person, or worse a child, the after effects are worse.


That's the situation faced by the characters in Sarah Ciacia's novel, Shove. A young boy is suddenly killed by a teenage assailant for no reason except for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The horror of the randomness in the boy's death is emotional as many people are affected by his death and the circumstances surrounding it.


At first the only thing on the mind of of Whaly, the narrator, is whether Jude, one of the most popular boys at school likes her. So when she is invited to a party at popular girl, Cora's house,Whaly wants to get a chance to be alone with Jude to find out. She also brings her new friend, Lenore, a socially awkward new kid, to the party so she can make new friends and be part of the group.


The usual teen party hijinks of hooking up, making friends, and underage drinking comes to an abrupt screeching halt, when Kirby, Jude's tag along kid brother, is attacked outside the house where the party is held. Worse, he is attacked by Harlan, a friend of Lenore's older brother, Dustin. Harlan had been making inappropriate comments towards Whaly and lately has been getting more aggressive in his demeanor. At the party, he gets drunk, violent, and poor Kirby ends up being the innocent bystander that gets the worst end. This unexpected violent act which results in Kirby's death changes the book from a happy go lucky unassuming YA novel of teen romance into a tragedy on how people deal with the accidental death of a child.


Many of the characters react differently to Kirby's death and it says a lot about who they are as individuals. Jude is looking for someone to blame and is angry at everyone, including Whaly whom he blames for being the catalyst for Harlan's rage. He closes himself off emotionally from his friends as his family struggles with losing a son and brother.

Harlan becomes even more violent as if in denial over Kirby's death. He claims that he never meant to hurt the boy, and he's probably right. But, he continues to behave like a simmering volcano waiting to explode. Suspense builds when trying to figure out who will be the next recipient of Harlan's unpredictable rage.

Whaly's friend, Cora, proves what a faithless friend she really is. A self-involved popular girl, she doesn't mind playing up the tears in front of a media audience about how the tragedy occurred at her house. However, in private, she can't resist bad mouthing Lenore and Whaly. Lenore, meanwhile, sheds her social awkwardness and shows an underlying strength and resilience, emerging as a true friend to Lenore.


Whaly also has to deal with her emotions flying all over the place. She is grief stricken and guilty over Kirby's death and can't get him out of her mind. She feels separated from her friends when both Jude and Cora reject her in different ways.

She is also suffering from PTSD because of Harlan's aggressiveness. She is fearful and suspicious of everyone. This is particularly felt within her home when Dustin does some construction work around her house. Whaly constantly questions Dustin's motives. Is he in touch with Harlan? Is he coming onto Whaly's divorced mother and does her mother return those feelings? Whaly's behavior is that of most teenagers, constantly worried and angst ridden.


Things take a violent turn in the climax, which shifts friendships and romances. Some characters mature and change while others do not. By the time Shove ends, the characters still mourn but they also accept the changes that have come.

New Book Alert: The Secrets They Left Behind by Lissa Marie Redmond; Intense Suspenseful Mystery About Going Undercover With PTSD

New Book Alert: The Secrets They Left Behind by Lissa Marie Redmond; Intense Suspenseful Mystery About Going Undercover With PTSD




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book published in 2020




Spoilers: When police officers and spies go undercover, it's assumed that they will accept their new identities and do their jobs without any issues concerning their old lives. But what if they have issues? What if their previous lives are so haunted, that they can't help but carry that baggage with them on their new case when they are just supposed to act as one of the gang, so they can find leads to solve this mystery?




That is the situation faced by Shea O'Connor, the bright young rookie cop/protagonist in Lissa Marie Redmond's intense and suspenseful mystery and thriller, The Secrets They Left Behind.

Shea is still recovering from a previous case when she was left alone with female serial killer, Terry Roberts. Even though, Roberts was caught, Shea still suffers from nightmares and PTSD from the assault and is seriously considering a career change.


The FBI sees a silver (or blood red in this case) lining in Shea's situation and figures that she would be the perfect officer to go undercover. In Kelly's Falls, a rural Pennsylvania town, three college age girls have gone missing. Shea is assigned to take the cover of an orphaned college freshman and niece of the local police chief. She infiltrates the local college scene including the girls' three other gal pals and one of the missing girl's good-looking brother to find out the truth. Unfortunately, the memories of the Robert's case are still fresh in Shea's mind, leaving her vulnerable to accepting friendship and romance while living under her assumed identity.


Shea makes for an interesting protagonist because she is a flawed character. She is a good police officer, very observant and dedicated to helping others. However, she is not a Mary Sue. In fact her flaws are what make her more interesting. She is emotional and protective of her new friends and feels guilty about lying to them. She falls in love with Nick, one of the missing girl's brother, because her loneliness from the deception and her past trauma makes her vulnerable.


In fact her vulnerabilities are what makes her a good police officer, something her FBI handler notices right away. That's why he refers her for the job. Shea sees the determination in the girlfriends' faces when they make sure that they name drop their missing friends in front of reporters so the girls are not forgotten. She understands the anxiety when parents follow every lead and the despair when the leads don't result in the girls being found. She relates when Nick wants to share news with his sister, Olivia, but is saddened remembering that she's not there to share them with.

She understands because she has been there. Her abduction and torture opened her up to the dark side of human nature. She uses that knowledge to protect others from that dark side.


The suspense is built on the characters' actions. Shea's strongest leads are to look at the secrets the girls left behind. She discovers the hidden lives that the girls shared with friends, family, and other towns residents. She investigates drug rings, bullying mean girls, and former lovers to find out information. In one tense moment, she has to use all her resources to protect a new friend who is alone with a dangerous predator.


The Secrets They Left Behind is gripping thriller with a protagonist as troubled as her investigation. But the trouble gives her the insight to find a solution.